In recent weeks, many — including us here — have been preoccupied with the question of the NBA MVP. On one occasion when we wrote about the topic here (obviously this writer thought the award should have gone to Nikola Jokic), we noted that over the past 15-20 years, the proposal has become more and more "narrative-biased," and that the Finals MVP award often "corrects" the "mistake" voters made when they named the season's best player a little less deserved, and who was someone else who probably deserved more (but didn't win because, Again - the narrative).
The crazy playoffs we're witnessing now are now showing signs of an exclamation point in this story, where playoff winners help see voting for this season's best player in a different light.
And yes, I'm talking about Jokic again. And about Joel Embiid — who won this season only because the Serbian received the award the past two years, then was eliminated in the second round as Denver's center leads 0-3 in the Western Conference Finals over the Los Angeles Lakers (Game 4 - tonight at 03:30 a.m. PT).
Jokic and Murray improve to 0-3 against the Lakers, Photo: Reuters
Because in 2022-23, when you look at the list of regular-season MVP recipients and compare them to playoff MVPs, it looks like the difference between the lists couldn't be greater.
Embiid, who won first place with 73 votes (out of 100 votes) but dropped from 33 points per game to 23 in the playoffs (the largest drop by a playoff winner ever), is currently the only winner ever to make it past the second round.
Joel Embiid. This season's MVP, photo: AP
Next on the list is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished third in voting and was eliminated with Milwaukee in the first round. In fifth place was Shaye Gilgeous-Alexander, who in the deciding play-in game scored just 5 of 19 and was eliminated with O'Casey before reaching the playoffs.
Sixth place - Donovan Mitchell, who was eliminated with Cleveland (the favorite) in five games against the Knicks. Seventh-place Domantas Sabonis dropped from 19 points to 16 in a seven-game loss to the Warriors. Eighth place - Luka Doncic, who also saw the play-in from home. At 11 - Dearon Fox, at home after the first round. And at 12, Ja Morant, whose first-round failure with Memphis is the last of his problems right now.
Donovan Mitchell. Cleveland's star, photo: AP
So what does this list look like compared to the top 10 playoff players so far? Let's see.
10LeBron James, L.A. Lakers
in the playoffs (as of Sunday night): Western Conference Finals, 6-10-23 (pts-rebound-ace). In the regular season, he received no votes for R&D.
9Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks
Second Round, 5-5-28. No. 12 in regular season voting.
8Anthony Davis, L.A. Lakers
West Finals, 3-14-23. Did not receive votes in the regular season.
7Kevin Durant, Phoenix Suns
Second Round, 5-9-29. Did not receive votes in the regular season.
6Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Western Conference Finals, 6-6-28. Did not receive votes in the regular season.
5Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors Second
Round, 6-5-30. Finished ninth in regular season voting.
4Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Second Round, 7-5-34. Did not receive votes in the regular season.
3Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
5-10-28. Finished fourth in regular season voting.
2Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat
Eastern Conference Finals, 6-6-30. Finished 10th in regular season voting.
1Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Western Conference Finals, 10-13-30. Finished 2nd in regular season voting.
Butler.He's in madness, Photo: AP
Five of these ten names received a combined zero votes, with 100 journalists filling out five names on their forms. Three other names here finished ninth to 12th in the vote. Only two — Jokic and Tatum — are high both here and here. And as this text is being written, Tatum himself is 3-0 behind in the Eastern Conference Finals after two straight home losses. So yes, maybe the problem is in the way people vote. Perhaps the problem with such a comparison is that in the small sample of the playoffs you can always expect big deviations.
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Perhaps the problem lies in the ability of some of the younger generation's stars to cope with the pressure, expectations and early coronations. And maybe, just maybe, there's no problem at all — and the playoffs will only become the tool with which more and more careers are measured and legacies set, and the 82 regular-season games will establish itself as the longest preseason game in the world.
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